Our April meeting raised many good questions with a visitor from Trinity Community Council bringing some useful ideas. The following day a positive meeting with developers EDI, reminded me how important it is to work together and combine our skills.
How do we make the walled garden restoration sustainable, and of benefit to local people?
The Friends Group aim is to work in partnership with a variety of organisations and community groups with expertise in heritage landscapes, conservation, sustainable horticulture & health and wellbeing.
People Involved and Benefits – Community led, planned and operated. Social enterprise, training & employment. Therapeutic gardening in the widest sense, growing to benefit people of all ages & abilities, wildlife and the environment. Regenerating a neglected heritage landscape, retaining its cultural and historic significance for future generations to enjoy.
Plans and a timetable of works are needed to restore the overgrown walled garden to productivity. Sustainable Uses! Designing the garden space to incorporate the Friends Group ideas for things like heritage orchard restoration and expansion, food growing areas, demonstration gardens, permaculture, sensory garden, medieval plants, herbal medicines, plant nursery, educational facilities, heritage visitor centre, café and retail area….
Interested? Get in touch and come along to our next Friends Group meeting. Thursday 21st May, 6.00-7.30 at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre, 11 Pilton Drive North. Contact – grantoncastlegardengroup@gmail.com
Agenda so far –
- RCHMS – speaker interested in our Friends group aims and how they could help a community group like ours if we were taken on as one of their projects, with training to help highlight the history of the walled garden in innovative ways.
- CLAS – advisor on community empowerment bill progress and implications for our groups ‘note of interest’ currently with the developers.
Carried over from the last meeting;
– Planning committee meeting, Local Development Plans and decision! The councillors are to make a decision to grant or refuse the luxury townhouse development planning application, stalled since 2004. When though?
– Start-up funding applications – Costs are involved in obtaining initial surveys and restoration plans needed for the listed garden, and planning permission to create a new access track to open the garden.
– Raising awareness & exhibition – where next?